RUNNING BACK

The first week of preseason basically confirmed what we already knew here, which is that Georgia is simply loaded at tailback. Todd Gurley, first of all, is reportedly ready to roll and in the best shape of his college career (that’s per Bryan McClendon). For now, there’s no reason to push Gurley’s workload in the preseason.

But the competition behind him could be a heating up a little, as each of the five-star freshmen have shown some strong signs already. There were behind-the-scenes rumbles of Sony Michel really impressing in practice last week. Nick Chubb evidently saw it and raised with a starring role in Saturday night’s scrimmage. Additionally, Keith Marshall has been full-speed ahead coming off knee surgery, and you’ve still got Brendan Douglas competing hard.

So it will be fascinating to see how the Bulldogs will choose to divide up carries when the games start. Again, that’s a very good problem for Georgia to have, but we’d advise you to not assume anything beyond Gurley being the No. 1 option if healthy.

At fullback, Quayvon Hicks‘ move to tight end (though he could still play fullback if needed) has left little question that the job of lead-blocking fullback is Merritt Hall‘s to lose this preseason. Walk-on Taylor Maxey has done some good things and could be pushing for a backup role in certain situations.

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WIDE RECEIVER

In what seems now a familiar trend for this unit, no other area of Georgia’s team right now looks tp be as banged-up as the wide receivers. Malcolm Mitchell remains out for now after minor knee surgery right before camp. Justin Scott-Wesley has been working in a limited capacity at practice, but he’s not all the way back from last fall’s major knee surgeries. Chris Conley has been limited at practice this past week. Charlie Hegedus has also been out with what is believed to be a minor ailment. Freshman Shakenneth Williams wasn’t practicing Friday, and Jonathon Rumph reportedly missed the scrimmage with an unknown issue too.

So … all these absences surely hurt the offense’s firepower during the scrimmage and have made evaluations difficult while already testing the depth at a position that needed to get deeper from last season and appeared to have done that. Blake Tibbs, Reggie Davis and Kenneth Towns look to be benefiting from extra reps at the moment, while freshman receiver Isaiah McKenzie‘ rapid emergence became one of the stories of the first week of practice.

The good thing, of course, is that the big names on the receiving corps should heal over the next few weeks. But right now it’s easy to see how Bobo might be tempted to go with a heavy dose of the run early on.

43 responses to “A tale of two position groups”

“It appears that freshman Detric Bing-Dukes has been moved to running back. At least that was the group he was working with Monday morning and he was dressed in the offense’s red jersey. Bing-Dukes signed with Georgia out of Tucker High as a linebacker and had been working with that group until now.”

what’s up with that? the position group seems a little full at the moment.

With the depth at LB maybe he has a better chance of contributing at FB. I agree with Michael, I think I would move Douglas to FB/H-B now. Too much talent to sit and we are going to use that position until we change offensive schemes. Hall can use some help, especially if he has to fend off big rushers every game.

I think we have got the talent at WR, although thin at the moment. We need JSW to help Davis stretch the field but I believe we will use a short passing game more this year. Just need a threat to keep the safeties honest but imagine the LB having to deal with a talented backfield that can run over you, past you, and can all catch…then add the H Back and TE. A lot to think about and not get caught guessing, each of those backs can run well in space if they get a couple of steps due to a misread or getting caught guessing. Understand how badly that reads but we have offensive talent to fill in the gaps. The real concern is keeping Mason upright for 13-14 games.

True, forgot about the “new math”. Thanks. Just get me to Atlanta, that is what it is about, if we are good enough to get there our questions will have been answered positively and everything is open to us.

what’s up with that? the position group seems a little full at the moment.

Very likely, Bing-Dukes wasn’t what Pruitt wanted at LB. I wondered about it when we offered him last June, and then again when Pruitt took over. But we don’t back away from commitments, and that could be the story.
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Dukes looks pretty good running his drills from H, so he may help us there down the road. Don’t know anything about his ball skills, we’ll see. I doubt he wouldn’t been moved, however, if he was exactly what we wanted at ILB.

But right now it’s easy to see how Bobo might be tempted to go with a heavy dose of the run early on.

You’d think so. But the thing about it is, that pits our weakness (OL) against their strength (DL). Now maybe our OL is better than we think, but I don’t like that matchup. They’re supposed to have 5 or 6 NFL guys on that DL, i.e., an NFL front.

I was talking to an old friend last night, and with MM & JSW out, and fragile at TE, we expect Clemson to load the box and play man-to-man, forcing us to beat them throwing. We have Reggie Davis and Isaiah McKenzie who can stretch the field, and we may need them early on. And we’ll need Conley, Bennett, et.al, to all be solid, along and maybe Hicks at the H.

But I’m thinking we’ll have to pass to set up the run. Loosen them up with the pass, then run that sucker, then beat ’em with the pass again. But I don’t think we’re good enough up front to just pound it straight at them. I think we’re going to need balance, and maybe for the whole game.
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Ivey, it seems logical that until Mason proves that he is capable of beating teams with is arm opposing D’s will load the box to stop the run. That puts a ton of pressure on an awfully weak O-line. Time for CWF to earn his paycheck.

Balance has been and will be the Bobo watch word. Right now I’ll bet we go up tempo because Mason likes it like that. We may see UGA looking like Auburn. I think Bobo is beginning to like changing it up and showing that we can up-tempo is just his latest wrinkle.

I think Bobo is beginning to like changing it up and showing that we can up-tempo is just his latest wrinkle.

I think so too. Bobo seems to have become a great believer in balance in recent years, moreso than he used to be. He’s less old school than he was, IMO.

And we’ll be more up-tempo this year for sure, primarily because of Mason, as you pointed out. But we’ve been up-tempo, is some form or another, since Richt arrived. Even those years where we only used it in 1-2 minute drills, we were always good at it. It’s always been an integral part of Richt’s offense, and now Bobo’s.

But good point about tempo. I think we’ll go fast against Clemson, but will still need to pass in order to set up the run.
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Once again what makes you think we would run more with the FB? What in the history of bobo makes you think the FB will get more than two carries a game. A true proven blocking FB is worth way more than the couple extra yards we would get with the loss in blocking ability. Playing FB and tb is not remotely similar. If being a blocking FB was so easy we would not have a new HB who is a lot closer to a FB than Douglas has ever played.

I’d like to see Bobo throw a lot of short out passes to Gurley and Marshall. Spread Clempsons D out and if their man to man coverage is good, shoot it out to the TB and there goes Gurley running downhill or Marshall getting up to speed and flying if he still can. Much better odds of success than long downfield passes.

Quote Of The Day

“I’m thrilled for this day to get here, and I’m excited to find out how a lot of these new guys learn. These practices are not easy, and the idea is to create adversity for your team and find out who your leaders are.” — Kirby Smart, Chattanooga Times Free Press, 8/1/17